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I think there is definitely room in the coin pricing to raise it $0.50-1.00 without affecting sales. Another option would be to issue a "limited edition" coin like many others have done, with a different finish on it for $2.00 more. I think the coin boom has passed, the 2005 coin sold over 2000, the 2007 sold a little over 500. It was more expensive, but was trackable too. I think the 500 number is more realistic for the 2008 coin. It will be a little more than in '07 if we go with a non-round coin as the die charges for the front of the coin were paid in 2005. A new front die will add a little. A different shape MAY add as well, I don't know yet. Either way, a limited coin may be an option for fund raising.

Money

I'm a donating member and thought about everyone would be! Live and learn. Do we donate every year and if so, do we get reminders that it's time to donate again? I didn't intend my donation to be "forever".

That said, why not (those who want to) have silent auctions at their events? I was thinking about having one at mine to benefit the site but then figured they didn't need it. Wrong.

People who want to could bring an item to be auctioned and others could write down how much they'd pay for the item. Everyone wouldn't need to do it at their event, just those who want to. And an event that's just to have a yard sale and good time would work. I also like the idea of ammo cans at events for those who wish to toss in a bit of money for the site.

"There is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats". Wind In the Willows

I also like the idea of ammo cans at events for those who wish to toss in a bit of money for the site.

I like the option of donating at events. I understand that some people that aren't able or interested in donating can feel uncomfortable with these, but if the container is in an inconspicuous location at the event, maybe in a non see-through container, people that want to throw in some money can, and those that don't want to won't feel the pressure from a big money jar in the middle of the event.

I think the raffle I did at one of Rick's events worked well for a first try. I donated a geocoin to the cause, made up a jar stating the proceeds would go to the cause and people put their user names on a dollar bill and placed it in the jar. A few people put their names on larger denominations and/or entered a couple times. The $55 collected was more than 5 times the amount that the coin cost, so it was a success. I think if it was done more often and people got used to the idea it would help out quite a bit.

What about those GREAT shirts that a few people have? The Geocaching Maine shirtd That Wherearewe mention at the wwwwww4. If there was 1 or 2 to raffle off, A few people had asked about them. Or Making more to sell, or even a simple tshirt.

I think the raffle I did at one of Rick's events worked well for a first try. I donated a geocoin to the cause, made up a jar stating the proceeds would go to the cause and people put their user names on a dollar bill and placed it in the jar. A few people put their names on larger denominations and/or entered a couple times. The $55 collected was more than 5 times the amount that the coin cost, so it was a success. I think if it was done more often and people got used to the idea it would help out quite a bit.

On page 1 of this thread, attroll listed the costs for the software and such as $110 though he probably forgot something.

We are using the blazenet bandwidth for "free".

If I'm reading the newsletter correctly we need $1000/year to keep the site running.

So is the goal to cover the software costs (cover $110/year)? bandwidth reimbursement to whiteblaze ($900+)? break geocachingmaine.org onto its own server?

Asking for clarification - thank you!

And are these firm figures? Because somewhere (and I think in this thread) it implied it was an estimate, guesstimate or something which may not be firm. Before I start a project, I get the estimate and then firm figures. This is no different.

Another question - how many real members/users are there on this site? I see long lists of names but many have not signed on in the last year. It is not reasonable to do any business projection with bad data. To me, true research of member data is important. What is our usual and customary user base. I.E. We have x members - total on the books. X of those have been active in the last year. X of those have not been active in over 2 years. X of those have contributed to the site in some way (article, posting photos, etc.) or posted more than a dozen times. X of those are donating members. X of those have created a user profile.

Are we talking a 1000 real members here or more like 100 to 200 who will realistically share the cost of this web site?

I like the site, have enjoyed friends I have met on it and learned a lot from the site. My background just leads me to be cautious.